title: [The effect of Robert Koch's discovery and investigations on the development of the therapy of tuberculosis].
abstract: The discovery of the tuberculous bacillus and the methods of cultivation have been fundamental prerequisite for the development of the therapy of tuberculosis. Substances with antimycobacterial activity in vitro even in low concentrations have been found out already by Robert Koch, however not any effective ones in vivo. The cultural demonstration of tubercle bacilli is not only important for diagnosis but the essential criterion of efficacy of the drugs and for the success of treatment. Experiments with cultures of tuberculous mycobacteria represented the basis for detection of new antituberculous drugs, for the elucidation of the mechanism of their effect, for the inquiry of the type of antituberculous activity and the basic mechanism of the development of resistance. Out of these the principles for avoiding of that has been built up. Cultures are also used for the principal and individual determination of the concentration of antituberculous drugs in blood and organs. By the excellent efficacy of the causal antituberculous therapy it is possible to cure all kind of tuberculosis without any surgical interventions which are now needless. The results of in vitro-experiments on cultures represented also the starting point for the further development of antituberculous treatment. One-phasic or two-phasic intermittent treatment and short-course therapy have simplified treatment and marked it easier, which is supervised under ambulatory conditions, too. They lowered the costs for drugs and staff considerably. The causes of relapses, which have become now the main problem instead of resistance, could been investigated by means of tuberculous cultures. The possibilities of the realisation in practice of the obtained knowledge in the scale of a country are demonstrated on the example of the GDR and referred to the social and economical conditions, of which Robert Koch already had drawn the attention.
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001432:Bacteriology / Q000266:history; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005858:Germany; D005859:Germany, East; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000266:history*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents
vernacular_title: Die Auswirkung der Entdeckung und der Arbeiten Robert Kochs auf die Entwicklung der Therapie der Tuberkulose.